Is this Daschle $140,000 tax embarrassment a PR disaster that President Obama can/can't shake off?

[Divine Discontent]

If it was a shrub appointment wouldn't we be screaming, 'oh great a tax cheat of huge proportions getting the job shortly after another tax cheat gets the Treasury job!'?

I am disgusted that he would want Daschle, who screams "beltway", anyhow. Plus he was a lobbyist who made over $2 million doing fundraisers using his name for the firm. I'm not saying he won't do a fine job, but wasn't Dr. Dean good enough? Or others who weren't paid lobbyists? It seems like a PR disaster that will get 'set' in average Americans minds that the Obama Adm. is full of tax cheat (so why pay our taxes!), because Geitner was just in the press giving Obama unwanted press for his tax dalliances. Now Daschle.

[Believing Is Art]

1. Other?

I think he can shake it off, but I don't want Daschle appointed, either.

[Divine Discontent]

2. yeah, who really wants him, right? nice user name! added other.

[Believing Is Art]

6. Thanks! Spoon fan?

This really won't touch Obama, at all. And I agree that if it were Bush we'd be making a big deal about it. But with all the other issues going on right now that Obama is handling well, I don't see this affecting him at all.

[marylanddem]

3. Love Obama but I'm getting sick & tired of these taxdodging

lobbyists that seem to bedazzle him...

[Divine Discontent]

10. Just got this from someone that has sent maybe one joke in 10 years in email

Riddle:

Q: Why are Democrats in favor of higher taxes for the rich?

A: Rich Democrats don't pay their taxes


So, I'm sure if he sent it, it's making the rounds - and it doesn't help. "lobbyists that seem to bedazzle him..." good way to describe it. I dunno, I just can't see how he feels good with two tax dodgers being in the press like this, my old friend said, "so I don't have to pay my taxes, right?"

I like the President, too. I know some of the shimmer has come off the paint job since his election though. No one is perfect, I know that. Still hoping these first few months are filled with great news that dwarfs the mistakes like the Daschle pick.

[avaistheone1]

4. Sounds like taxes are just the beginning of Daschle's problems.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/01/daschle/index.html

[Divine Discontent]

5. reducing a friend's inspections from the FAA for planes the friend's firm owned & then 1 crashed &

kills, sure doesn't look too good - Thanks for the link - it just goes to show the political beasts he & his wife became.

And frankly, Daschle and George Mitchell were the Dem leaders who capitulated on several issues that we now realize pushed this country further into the control of the corporations and against the people.

[Igel]

7. He'll shake it off.

Obama, that is. Daschle, I'm not so sure.

After all, if paying taxes is patriotic, per Biden, then Daschle must be *very* glad that Obama headed the ticket. Perhaps Daschle and Geithner can explain to Biden something like how *not* paying taxes is actually a form of dissent and we all know dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

:crazy:

[Mr. Sparkle]

8. I really don't get this, he owes no back taxes. He paid them last month. And btw ...

it's a bit rich watching the republican' s playing an holier than thou attitude at these hearings when you look back at the scumbags they had pillaging the country for the last 8 years. Quite frankly it makes me sick.

[Divine Discontent]

9. that is important that he paid, as VP Biden says, paying taxes is patriotic, but let's not base what

is acceptable based on the level of screwups of the evil empire that came before this one.

[1776Forever]

11. Daschle had some very influential Obama staffers - Tentacles go deep...Read on.........

This was written way back in 2006:

The Obama-Daschle Connection
by Chris Cillizza

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2006/12/the_obamadaschle_connection.html

When former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) announced last week that he would not run for president, he was largely ignored by the national news media.

But, Daschle's decision actually has major repercussions when it comes to the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) -- currently THE hot candidate of Democratic presidential politics. (Witness the rock star treatment that Obama received during a book signing and campaign stop in New Hampshire yesterday.)

Why? Because many people in Obama's inner circle have close ties to Daschle and would have been put in an extremely tough situation if both men had decided to run. With Daschle out, the way is clear for these experienced campaign hands to focus full-time on Obama -- a boon for the relatively inexperienced Senator as he navigates the tricky waters of a national bid in the coming months. If Obama does decide to run, you can expect a number of other top-level staffers with ties to Daschle to jump on-board the nascent presidential campaign.

Daschle has yet to endorse any candidate for president although he did have kind words for Obama recently, saying: "I think because of the tremendous amount of enthusiasm and support that Sen. Obama has around the country, you'd be foolish not to give it some very careful thought."

Here's a look at the major former Daschle staffers now in Obama's orbit:

*Pete Rouse: Rouse served as Daschle's chief of staff for 20 years before the South Dakota Senator's defeat in 2004. Shortly afterward, he was selected to serve in that same post for Obama.

*Robert Gibbs: Obama's communications director, Gibbs served in that same role at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the 2002 cycle. He was handpicked by the Daschle operation for that job.

*Steve Hildebrand: Daschle's campaign manager in 2004 (and South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson's in 2002), Hildebrand accompanied Obama on a recent trip to Iowa and has been reaching out to potential staff behind the scenes. Hildebrand also ran the Iowa caucuses for then Vice President Al Gore in 2000.

*Anita Dunn: Dunn, a longtime Daschle aide, has been tasked with straightening out Obama's Hopefund PAC through the end of this year. She will not be a part of any Obama bid as she is committed as a senior strategist for Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh (D).

*Todd Webster: Webster is a former spokesman for Daschle and the brains behind www.runobama.com, a draft site for the Illinois Senator that has collected some 11,000 signatures urging him to run.

[Divine Discontent]

12. ah.. so he was, shall we say, 'encouraged' to pick Daschle for something. eom

[1776Forever]

14. As they say the "fix" was in to put Daschle in an influential spot - not unlike Hillary n/t

[EFerrari]

13. Other: He can shake it off and get Daschle in but will it make his administration a better one?

Probably not.

[Divine Discontent]

15. logical point, thanks EF!

you changed your name, too!